The Mack – Reviews

Amazon.com

"The Mack* is a kind of godfather to a future stark frankness about life on
the streets. But forget the sociological hooey and dig into the piece as an
urban costume picture with a greasy/funky score by R&B genius Willie Hutch."

Amazon.ca

"Cult film fanatics may find themselves initially stunned by The Mack
because it is in many ways the polar opposite of the blaxploitation films it
is often lumped in with: the amount of racy and violent content is minimal,
the storyline is episodic in nature and the dramatic tone is very heavy and
dark from start to finish. It also lacks the polish of films like Shaft and
Superfly: the technical quality of the film is frequently raw and the pacing
is sometimes inconsistent. However, viewers who can get used to this style
will find The Mack to be a rewarding experience because it makes up for what
it lacks in polish with a wealth of detail and plenty of raw emotion. The
script is rife with quotable dialogue and documentarian-turned-director
Michael Campus brings a feverish 'you are there' intensity to the material.
The film further benefits from an excellent orchestral soul score by Willie
Hutch that adds style and a haunting, subtle sense of dramatic weight to the
proceedings.

The acting occasionally goes a bit over the top but is pulled
through by the sincerity of the actors: Max Julien's performance hits the
right mix of carefully guarded vulnerability and deep-seated anger as Goldie
and Don Gordon is downright terrifying as his main cop nemesis. There are
also several notable supporting performances, including Dick Anthony
William's charismatic turn as rival pimp Pretty Tony and Roger Mosley's
impassioned work as Goldie's radicalized brother. The work of these gifted
actors, combined with the consistent intensity of the filmmaking, brings the
material to life in a way that keeps the viewer riveted even when the story
loses focus. All in all, The Mack is a one-of-a-kind urban epic and required
viewing for anyone interested in the major cult movies of the 1970's. ”

~ Donald Guarisco, All Movie Guide

Dvdjournal.com

"When discussing the blaxploitation genre, the topic often turns to the
stars — actors such as Fred Williamson, Pam Grier, Richard Roundtree, and
Jim Brown, all playing larger-than-life characters on either one side of the
law or the other. Blaxploitation movies often were action movies, and most
offered a chance for these key players to perform in dynamic parts that were
denied to black actors until then. Many of these pictures were just
redressed versions of Hollywood's 1930s movies, filled with local characters
and street smarts (never more clearly denoted than by 1973's Black
Caesar named after 1930's *Little Caesar*); they were engaging, but light. And
though that may be the most notable characteristic of the genre, a handful
of films tried to push the envelope and be more than just that — movies like
*Cooley High*, *Cornbread, Earl and Me* and 1973's *The Mack*.

Though it features a pimp as its main character, *The Mack* has more in common with
the '70s antiheroes of the era than stylized revenge yarns such as *Coffy*,
and it offers a complicated depiction of a flawed but interesting man. As
directed by Michael Campus, the film showcases a side of the streets that
resonates, has great memorable dialogue and characters, and — from Max
Julien — one of the great performances of the '70s, period.

*The Mack* opens with Goldie (Julien) in a gunfight with the cops after he's been narc'd out. Losing the battle, he sends off his right-hand man Slim (Richard Pryor) and
takes the fall. But after serving his time, Goldie gets back in with the
Blind Man (Paul Harris), who gets him into pimping and teaches him the basic
rule of being a Mack: Any man can control a woman's body, a great pimp
controls their minds. And for a while Goldie is successful, able to move his
mom to a nice apartment and give the neighborhood kids money to stay in
school (always warning them "Don't look up to me.") But — as the more recent
song goes — more money, more problems, and the neighborhood cops (led by Don
Gordon) are itching to bust Goldie; the Mafia wants him to go back to
dealing drugs; and his brother Olinga (Roger E. Mosley, best known as T.C.
From *Magnum P.I.*) wants him to join his Black Power movement to remove the
scum from the streets. Goldie also has to have a stable of ladies, which
means turning out his lady friend Lulu (Carol Speed), and sometimes taking
women away from other players. And though Goldie attends the player's picnic
and wins the south-side's Mack of the Year contest, danger looms as he is
overwhelmed by his own lifestyle.


In the hands of another filmmaker — perhaps someone working for AIP or one
of the other low-budget distributors of the time — *The Mack* have been just
another flamboyant action picture. But director Michael Campus started his
career as a documentarian, and he began the project (based on the ideas of
Robert J. Poole, an ex-con with a story to tell) by going to the story's
location: Oakland, Calif. There he came in contact with a real pimp named
Frank Ward, who helped shape the main character, allowed location filming in
Oakland, and introduced the filmmakers to many of the real events that were
used in *The Mack* (including the player's picnic and the player's ball).
During filming the Ward Brothers were major criminals in Oakland, and
partnering with them gave the film an authenticity that grounds it. In fact,
Campus was so involved with the Ward Brothers that he got them to appear in
the picture, and when Frank died after production, Campus made sure the
movie was dedicated to him. But getting close to the real pimps was one
thing — Campus also worked closely with star Max Julien, as the project was
crafted out of both the street life in Oakland and partly out of Julien's
relationship with his mother — who died shortly before filming. As the
antihero Goldie, Julien is playing a man fresh from prison trying to make a
name for himself, and trying to do it right, but is being pulled back under
by those around him. It's the kind of story arc that's been done so often
that it takes a great turn to make it fresh, which may be why Julien's
performance is a such a wonder. Though he appeared in few other movies, the
way Julien commands the screen gives all of his scenes an incredible
vitality and honesty, even when he's not in pimp mode. There's just
something to the way he delivers dialogue — it's hard to believe he's
reading from a script, but maybe it's because Julien also helped shape the
screenplay and gave the film the loose improvisational style that provides a
raw energy to many of the scenes, especially with wild-card actor Richard
Pryor. Such things make a film a classic.

New Line's *The Mack: Platinum Series* presents the film in anamorphic widescreen (1.85:1) with audio in DTS, Dolby Digital 5.1, Dolby 2.0 Surround, and the original mono (DD 2.0). For a movie that was done on the cheap, it looks and sounds better than it
has any right to. Supplements include an audio commentary with director
Michael Campus, producer Harvey Bernard, and stars Max Julien, Annazette
Chase, George Murdock, Dick Anthony Williams, and Don Gordon; it's an
assembled track that forms a compelling portrait of how the film was made.
It also has a good time recalling wild anecdotes about Richard Pryor's
erratic and sometimes psychotic behavior. The commentary is perfectly
complemented by the wonderful documentary "Mackin Ain't Easy" (38:28), which
features all the commentators, a few film historians, and fans like Allen
and Albert Hughes, who recount what made *The Mack* such a success and why
it has endured. Most interesting is the picture's troubled production, as it
was shot in Oakland.

Although the filmmakers had the Ward Brothers' assistance, they didn't get the same respect from the Black Panthers — leading to some disrupted shooting days. The production probably was as fascinating as the film itself.” —DSH

Kaareundknut.com

"Packed with raw power, The Mack takes an uncompromising look at big city
street life and survival in 70's Oakland."


Christopher Mulrooney

"Henley is supposed to have used the term (an abbreviation of "mackerel") in
a translation of Villon. The Mack is built on the useful model of Howard
Hawks' Scarface, and shares with its original a decided originality. Even
knowing Hawks, there is an element of unpredictability in Campus' film which
really pays off at the end (a kind of transposition sometimes criticized
when literary works are involved).

The first few minutes are enough to cue the alert that this is going to be a
great film, but certain details in the handling only prepare the mighty
shocks which follow, such as Goldie (Max Julien) inculcating his girls at
the planetarium as president, chairman and king of the universe in a
lifetime contract. The charmers stare at starbanks weaving in and out under
his control, they repeat his grinning gobbledygook.

Where the structure really towers is in its forceful ambiguities. By
controlling minds, Goldie is able to forswear the mack's usual manhandling.
This eventually leads to the crisis when a rival's girl "chooses" him.

The mirroring complications of the plot deserve and really require analysis.
Goldie's brother (Roger E. Mosley) is also involved in "cleaning up the
streets" after his own fashion. Two Oakland detectives (Don Gordon, William
C. Watson) have their own game.

Richard Pryor, an excellent actor, plays Goldie's chum, who in the opening
jumps a fence and leaves him staring up from an overturned car at the two
detectives, and later follows him enthusiastically in his rise to
mackereldom.

All of the performances are spirited and acute, imbued with underworld
ambience and well-directed. The unexpected ending gives a psychological
variant of the Scarface motif which principally bears on the mack's line of
work."


Combustible Celluloid

"One of the seminal works of blaxploitation is actually a bit softer and
more thoughtful than it may appear. This is partly thanks to the low-key,
sleepy-eyed performance by Max Julien as "Goldie," the "mack" of the title.
Released from prison, Goldie vows to eschew his former
drug-pushing/drug-taking ways and become the best pimp the Oakland streets
have ever seen. When he assembles his ladies, he lays down the law to them
over the loudspeaker at the Planetarium, accompanied by thunder and images
of planets and stars spinning around. The film is full of odd little
touches, such as a man attacked by rats in the trunk of a car or battery
acid injected into the veins of another. But in-between the (white) director
Michael Campus employs an almost improvisatory approach, it's as if the
actors weren't even aware the camera was running."


The Digital Bits

"The Mack remains one of the most memorable examples of 70's black cinema.
Part of its appeal lies in its top-notch cast. Julien anchors the movie but
there really isn't a bad performance in the film (and how many
blaxploitation movies can you say that about?). In addition, the dialogue is
a notch above most low-budget action pictures. The screenplay was apparently
substantially rewritten by Julien, Pryor and director Michael Campus from
the original treatment by credited screenwriter Robert J. Poole. These three
added memorable, realistic dialogue (most of which I wouldn't dare quote in
this review) and some honest and thoughtful consideration of the role of the
pimp in the black community.

But what is most remarkable about The Mack is its authenticity. Apart from
Julien and Williams, most of the players in the movie are real pimps playing
themselves. Even if you didn't know that before watching the movie (and I
certainly didn't), you can't help but feel the documentary-style realism of
scenes like the Players Ball. This blend of reality and fiction lands The
Mack in the company of such films as Haskell Wexler's 1969 classic Medium
Cool. It's an honest and unflinching glimpse of life in Oakland in the early
70's."